Thursday, September 16, 2010

Costco is the best buy
For all things in general, Costco offers you a good deal- the perfect blend of value, quality and price i.e for the same quality of product and same design you will probably NOT find any other place offering more value than Costco.. It is no wonder that Warren Buffet said that Costco is the "best business" in America in 2009.

Please note that the emphasis is on "same quality and design". But lowest prices on a product does not mean necessarily mean that it is the best value.

What is a GOOD DEAL?
When it comes to Silver Jewelry, you would naturally think that Costco would give you a good deal. But at this point, one should stop and think again, what is value in terms of jewelry? If you literally split the price tag on any jewelry product, you would be paying for material, craftsmanship, design and last but possibly the most important, the brand.

Those who sell through Costco obviously realize this fact, but do those who buy it from them? In the recent past, there have been just 3-4 brands that have sold Sterling Silver jewelry through Costco, including Lucky Clover Jewelry, Jewelry to your Doorstep, Telesto Designs Jewelry and Kazia Digo Jewelry.

STERLING SILVER JEWELRY AT COSTCO
Let us look at each one briefly:

Kazia Digo Jewelry:
These guys at www.kaziadigo.com sell mostly Sterling Silver jewelry with colored stones and crystals.: contemporary, easy to wear every day jewelry. The style in general is trendy yet delicate. But prices for those styles which are not exceptional in design or material, are rather on the higher side.
They offer discounts upto 35% to Costco members. But despite that discount, I still feel that their products are on the steeper side. But if you compare it with the jewelry sold in a regular mall chain store, it may still be considered as 'value'.
Of course if you buy it from another online store or the streets of NYC, you could get better deals. But at this point, I would say that the last factor, brand is really what adds to the price tag.
So at the end of the day, brand is really the only thing what you pay for when you buy Costco Kazia Digo jewelry.

CONCLUSION :
Costco has been hosting special designer Silver Jewelry events (or trunk shows) at their prime locations in the North East. The silver jewelry available for sale at these events is of mediocre quality and tasteless design. It is certainly not representative of the highest standards of design and quality that Costco customers expect. The prices of these silver jewelry products are probably comparable if not lower than any place else. Costco bargains hard with these companies who are willing to host special events (trunk shows) at Costco. This allows Costco customers to get the benefit of lower pricing on these silver jewelry products as compared to the parent websites.

Material: Most of these jewelry pieces were Sterling Silver with semi-precious stones

Price: The prices ranged from $50 to $300 dollars - comparable rates to some online and local jewelry stores if not more

Service: The quality of semi-precious stones on sterling silver was not clear. I do understand that it is not practical to provide in detail the quality of each and every stone on the silver piece but if this a special sales event then the least that is expected is complete information on what you buy

Design: The design is rarely impressive or 'exclusive'

Exclusivity: These designs were not as impressive or exclusive as you may expect from Costco

It is for these reasons I believe Costco has to improve a lot when it comes to offer great deals on Silver Jewelry.

Costco, despite being my favorite store, offering great products with great quality, still needs to do much better when it comes to selling silver jewelry. I am eagerly awaiting for that day when Costco can offer a great value on their silver jewelry collection.